Brady group: Arming teachers ‘insane’

The head of the country’s most prominent gun control advocacy group on Tuesday called a Texas GOP congressman’s idea to arm teachers “insane.”

“There are 40 people behind me who would love to respond to that,” said Dan Gross, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, when asked at a Capitol Hill press conference about Rep. Louie Gohmert’s suggestion to arm teachers and principals to prevent future school shootings. “But in their spirit, I will do on behalf of them: That’s insane.”

Text Size

Gross, whose brother was wounded during a mass shooting at the Empire State Building in 1997, was standing in front of 40 family members of gun violence victims, including family members of victims of deadly mass shootings in Tucson, Ariz., at Columbine High School, in Aurora, Colo., at Virginia Tech and the South Capitol Street shooting in Washington, D.C. Family members nodded their heads as Gross spoke.

“Think about what that’s saying,” Gross said. “It’s saying the only answer to violence is more violence. The only answer to guns is more guns.”

Gross said additional weapons at most of the “chaotic” mass shootings of recent years, including his brother’s shooting, and at the mass shooting in Aurora earlier this year, would have only resulted in “more carnage.”

“I would hope the representative is held responsible for irresponsible statements like that,” Gross added.

Among the 40 family members was Andrei Nikitchyuk, whose 8-year-old son, Bear, was a student at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., where 26 people were shot and killed Friday. Nikitchyuk’s son survived the shooting after a teacher pulled him out of the hallway and barricaded the door to her classroom.

“I would offer the NRA: Return this country their kids,” Nikitchyuk told reporters after the press conference. “If they can do it, I would like that very, very much.”

Nikitchyuk, who emigrated to the United States 22 years ago, said he tried to ignore past mass shootings, and said he believed gun owners and politicians would do anything they could to protect children. Now, Nikitchyuk said, the country needs to speak up and demand more gun control.

Murder weapons everywhere all the time - that is insane. Gun lovers are so delusionally fixated on their fantasies of a "successful" shootout that they ignore the real-world results of uncontrolled gun access - far more accidental shootings, suicides, and crazy homicides than any self-defense benefit.

New Hampshire legislators carry concealed guns while in the legislature and meetings and hearings, and they haven't killed anyone when their guns fall out of their pockets onto the floor. So why not have kindergarten teachers carry guns? When the guns fall on the floor, the kids will surely pick up the gun safely and return it to their teacher. After all, guns and kids are the perfect combination.

By the way, requiring holsters that prevent guns from falling out or being grabbed by kids would be dangerous - when a shooter is coming, the teacher needs to be able to pull the gun without a seconds delay.

It has been reported that NH legislators have stopped carrying their concealed guns because the guns are too much hassle because they wear on the pants, hurt their butts, and need to be picked up by crawling on the floor, but don't let anyone know so everyone things they are carrying a gun.

But note that after a century of no legislators being killed while at work, the recent concealed carry of weapons has stopped the senseless deaths that wasn't happening, proving that concealed guns has stopped the senseless killing of NH legislators that wasn't happening. Obviously, concealed carry in the 21st century prevented killings in the 20th century.

We live in an age where all one thinks they have to do is label something insane, no matter how logical, and no other argumentation has to be offered. Perhaps so, but personally I think gathering children into clusters of undefended targets, for some crazy person to kill is insane.

personally I think gathering children into clusters of undefended targets, for some crazy person to kill is insane.

Personally, I think conflating one incident into a situation that calls for transforming schools across the nation into armed camps like some Vietnam LZ is insane. But then of course, I'm not a teabagger, and I'm SURE I dont love America HALF as much as you do.

In 31 school shootings, the police have NEVER arrived in time to kill the perpetrator. I'm quite sure that the brave, loving, tragically deceased principal at Newtown WISHED that she could have shot at the murderer rather than run unarmed at him. 70% of murders in the U.S. are committed with handguns. Only 1 to 2% of murders are done with an "assault" weapon.......

"Our main agenda is to have ALL guns banned. We must use whatever means possible. It doesn't matter if you have to distort facts or even lie. Our task of creating a socialist American can only success when those who would resist us have been totally disarmed."

Crime stats show that police are on on-site of an active crime only about 5% of the time. The remaining 95%, people are on their own for precious minutes. I don't know about you, but with those odds, I would rather be armed and ready than unarmed and hope the police arrive before I am killed. No one from the Brady Org was at Sandy Hook at the time of the murders. It is, therefore, easy (and pompous) to call the idea of armed teachers insane. I doubt that any of the staff at Sandy Hook would agree. Their courage to put their unarmed bodies in the line of fire speaks volumes to what could have been a very different outcome had they had a weapon to defend the children in their charge.

Crime stats show that police are on on-site of an active crime only about 5% of the time. The remaining 95%, people are on their own for precious minutes. I don't know about you, but with those odds, I would rather be armed and ready than unarmed and hope the police arrive before I am killed. No one from the Brady Org was at Sandy Hook at the time of the murders. It is, therefore, easy (and pompous) to call the idea of armed teachers insane. I doubt that any of the staff at Sandy Hook would agree. Their courage to put their unarmed bodies in the line of fire speaks volumes to what could have been a very different outcome had they had a weapon to defend the children in their charge.

Crime stats show that police are on on-site of an active crime only about 5% of the time. The remaining 95%, people are on their own for precious minutes. I don't know about you, but with those odds, I would rather be armed and ready than unarmed and hope the police arrive before I am killed. No one from the Brady Org was at Sandy Hook at the time of the murders. It is, therefore, easy (and pompous) to call the idea of armed teachers insane. I doubt that any of the staff at Sandy Hook would agree. Their courage to put their unarmed bodies in the line of fire speaks volumes to what could have been a very different outcome had they had a weapon to defend the children in their charge.